


night's story

by Astral Aeon (DreamyRequiem)



Series: king [2]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: 8k+ words and yet there's only 3 lines of actual dialogue, AU where stella is ardyn's angry also immortal former best friend, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Gen, Reincarnation, marie and izunia r technically not OCs but w/e, some implied noctluna and noctprom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-07
Updated: 2017-12-07
Packaged: 2019-02-11 20:16:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12942957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamyRequiem/pseuds/Astral%20Aeon
Summary: Noctis knows that the staff think he's creepy. He's six years old but sometimes he talks like he's thirty and Noctis can't help it. It's just how he is.But saying that won't stop them from thinking he's not human, not really.





	night's story

**Author's Note:**

> unbeta`d
> 
> half of this was written at like. one-two am so I'm sorry for mistakes in the 2nd half of the story

The maids think Noctis is creepy.

He doesn't really blame them, because sometimes, Noctis says or does something he's pretty sure six year olds aren't supposed to do. Things like speak in a language long dead after his nightmares or know exactly how to cut a person to bits.

Speaking of the nightmares, they were something Noctis is also sure that he shouldn't have. Nightmares of darkness eating away his body, leaving bone with him screaming for every excoriating second. Or nightmares of clutching a girl only a handful of years his elder close to his chest as he cries into her hair, pleading with her killer, as if that would bring her back.

His voice, pleading. 'Don't let her die, why would you kill her, she's your sister, St--'and the killer, opening their mouth to speak to him but never a word passes out because he always wakes up screaming.

He mentions that nightmare to one of the maids once. Noctis never sees her again.

Noctis wonders what's wrong with him. Why isn't he like every other six year old? Because he overhears them, whispering about how he was an unnatural six year old, that his father had never been this creepy as a child, it's not because of the family line.

If it isn't for Ignis, Noctis is sure he'd be entirely alone. Ignis is never creeped out by Noctis' non childlike behavior, never ever. If he had been, Noctis is also sure that he would be doing his best to act like a six year old. Or at least, what everyone says a six year old is supposed to act like.

Ignis even starts to learn the dead language Noctis sobs in after his nightmares, because it is so much easier to calm him when he hears someone else speaking it. Noctis' dad have shown them that, when Noctis would run to his rooms, back when he was five.

He doesn't do that anymore.

Noctis soon learns how to be open and happy, though, with Ignis. He'd only ever manages that with his father before and Noctis is happy when the whispers die down after a couple years, when Noctis turns eight. It means that people will stop looking at him or his father like they're monsters.

Except...Oh, except, Noctis finds himself in the darkness again yet it's not a nightmare now. He just went out to the Cape, to see the ocean from some place other than tall walls. It was a few hours from home, but it is worth it to Noctis, to be able to put his feet in cool salt water. He loves those few hours but later he dreads them because of that.

It is all because when the darkness came on their way home, as quickly as they can, daemons came with it. People died and the kind maid who had come with him, the only one who has never whispered a unkind word about him, dies to protect Noctis. Noctis feels her blood soaking his clothes, just as his own starts to soak both of their clothing.

He wants to scream, because it is his nightmare, save for the fire that burned around the daemon. All the fire does, though, is make it worse instead of helping. It makes the daemon seem all the scarier, ready to eat them alive.

Which it is planning to do, Noctis decides as he lies there in the blood. It's probably going to eat them, and leave no evidence that any of them existed to begin with. Noctis is scared he'll never see his father or Ignis or anyone else again, despite deciding that they were going to disappear.

And then his father's swords tear through the daemon and Noctis lifts his head up, to look at everyone. More Crownsguard swarm the area and his father stands between the swarms, his crystalline weapons floating around them.

The daemon disappears into the darkness and Regis is there, his hand clutching Noctis' own. He whispers Noctis' name over and over again, pulling him up to his chest and ignoring Noctis' blood soaking into his father' clothes. Noctis whimpers and cries and clutches his father as tightly as Regis clutches him.

He can't feel his legs.

Even later, when the healers fix him up, Noctis still can't feel his legs. Well, he can, but it's like the feeling is echoing down from some distant chamber, miles from Noctis. His nightmares grow worse.

The darkness burns him more, but now instead of stark white bones he sees claws and fangs and Noctis is scared. He doesn't understand where the dreams are coming from, not until he hears his father speaking with a medic and hearing them say that he's sick.

Starscourge.

He wants to cry but he can't let himself cry. Noctis can't cry anymore, because if he does he'll hurt his dad even more. This is all his fault, because Noctis had said he wanted to go out to the Cape to see the ocean and now he's practically dying. There's nothing Noctis can do to take it all back.

Noctis wants to apologize to his father, for doing this to him.

And then his father announces that they're going to Tenebrae. Noctis blinks and looks up at his father from his wheelchair, so very confused. What would going to Tenebrae do?

When they arrive in the allied country, it's to delighted greetings. Noctis wishes Ignis was there, as he stares at the many adults gathered to greet them. They're terrifying, he thinks, because he doesn't know what they'll do to him, what they'll think of him. Will they think he's unnatural, like the maids used to before Ignis?

Except there is a kid, two of them. They were both older then him, leaving Noctis to his worries that they won't like him. Except Lunafreya does and Noctis can't help but like her a lot. She never looks at him like he's said something weird, something someone his age shouldn't have. Instead, she agrees and keeps the subject going, on all types of things. About daemons and the Empire.

And about their apparent destinies.

Lunafreya doesn't shy away from telling him that she thinks they'll die. He nods in understanding and tells her that he thinks she died in his arms once. She understands and tells him she dreams she dies in his arms, all the time.

They know each other and Noctis feels even more comfortable than before, because she understands. It's better than his father or Ignis because while they're accepting of him and the way he is, they never understand. Lunafreya does and in a way, that helps.

Noctis never tells his father what Lunafreya told him, because he wants to spare his father it. He never realizes, not until Noctis is twenty, that his father had always known.

Regardless, after Noctis is healed of his starscourge and he's well into his physical therapy, the Empire arrives. They kill Sylva and Noctis weeps for her--and then he weeps for Lunafreya, as his new dear friend stays behind. He knows it's for her brother, because Noctis would've done the same for his father, but he is still desperately sad for it.

He's alone with Ignis in the citadel, when he comes back. Noctis hears his father speaking with his Shield, because it's time Noctis learns to fight. Part of him that is unmarred by all that has happened is excited. But the rest of him could care less. He's so tired and wants to rest.

Noctis almost wishes that he and Lunafreya could've fulfilled their destinies before he left, if only to avoid the hypersomnia Noctis now suffers from. Because he still sees the death and darkness in his dreams.

But Noctis eventually hears that he will be meeting his Shield and Noctis feels fear once more. He doubts the man will like him much--Ignis and Lunafreya had always been the only ones to really like him that never die.

...Actually, now that he thinks of it, maybe it's for the best if the guy doesn't like him. He won't die if he doesn't like Noctis. He can live with that, because the Shield will live too.

Before he ever meets him though, Noctis meets Prompto. The blond boy is shy and timid and Noctis wonders what he wants. He seems nice, but he never really seems to be ready to talk to Noctis. Noctis doesn't really even know why Prompto wants to speak with him, because Noctis has already scared off almost everyone in the school.

Noctis contemplates asking Ignis for advice on it but decides not to. Ever since returning from Tenebrae, the chamberlain had been even more protective of Noctis than he normally is. So to bring attention to a boy from school, one that isn’t scared of him, would just worry the teenager more than needed.

Gladiolus is the next person Noctis meets. He's a nice guy--to everyone except Noctis. He doesn't take any nonsense nor does he like it when Noctis decides to quit--when Noctis' legs screams at him for rest. He doesn't dare admit to weakness, however, and just says he's tired. It's not really a lie, considering the pain in his legs does exhaust him.

But it's not the truth now, is it?

After fighting with Gladiolus, Noctis runs into Iris. She's six years old and wandering off and Noctis worries and hopes he remembered to close the window out of the garden. To make sure, he follows her silhouette and stops as he sees her sneak out. No, no, no! Why hadn't he made sure to keep the window closed? Now that she was going to be outside, a child in danger without a guardian.

Noctis doesn't realize that he doesn't really count as a guardian. He's eleven years old, not an adult and he doesn't seem to think that is an issue. Not until after he gets back with a sobbing Iris, soaking wet. He looks at her, at Gladiolus, and then his incoming father. It's his fault the window is open--though he's going to close it as soon as he can.

So he claims responsibility for it. Gladiolus glares at him, Iris looks horrified, and his father grounds him. It's fine because it is his fault--but he can't help but feel a little sad. He had been hoping to finally make friends with Prompto. Noctis brought it on himself though.

The next day, he is surprised by Gladiolus, who trains with him and after it's over tells him that Iris told him everything. Noctis flushes and then tells Gladiolus that she only got out because he forgot to close the window. Gladiolus gives him a flat look, ruffles his hair, and tells him that he's more responsible than he thought. Oh, and to call him Gladio, of course.

(Something that Noctis learns when they travel later on is that Ignis had told Gladio about Noctis' accident and how, even three years after the original healing, Noctis had still struggled with his physical therapy. Noctis is just bemused when he finds out.)

Noctis spends the next years wandering his middle school and training, trying to keep up with Gladio. All the while, he looks for Prompto but the blond boy has vanished from Noctis' sight. And no matter what he did, he couldn't seem to find a sign of him. This is disappointing, because Noctis thinks he had finally found what Prompto likes--cameras, or something like it.

He puts the camera away, hidden from his sight.

All the while, he and Lunafreya send messages to each other. It's one of the few things Noctis looks forward to, happy to hear from his friend and fellow fated-to-die. He tells her about the boy--never naming him--whom he wants to befriend but can't find. She tells him about Ravus and how things are in Tenebrae under the Empire's control.

On the day he finally goes to high school, Noctis finds the boy again. Or maybe he finds Noctis--either way, Noctis is pleased he can finally be friends with the boy he's been looking for for years now.

Things progress well, Noctis thinks. High school is going well, his training with Gladio is better than ever, and Noctis has Prompto to fall to when he needs someone to talk to that doesn't expect anything from him. He doesn't notice until it's too late Ignis feels about his 'lax' attitude.

It starts with Ignis scolds him for not reading the government reports. It's small and a little frustrating but Noctis shrugs it off. And then Ignis snaps and scolds him, saying that he'll be king, he needs to know these things.

Noctis feels himself break under that. He never realizes how close he was to breaking, until then, because he thought he'd been fine. No, though, it seems Noctis' mental state had been wavering over the edge. So Noctis straightens and looks Ignis in the eye and tells him, right out, that he knows that he's going to be king. He also knows that becoming king means his father will be dead, the only family he has. He knows it all.

What he doesn't say is that when he becomes king, he's going to die too.

Ignis flushes and leaves, because their argument is short and stupid and Noctis leaves too, wanting out. He finds Prompto at the arcade and, after they wander together to a park, Umbra finds them. Noctis sits down with both Prompto and Umbra, relieved at the two he could feel free with, if for different reasons.

Noctis tells Prompto that he got into a fight with Ignis and how he doesn't know what to do. Prompto looks him in the eye and say that he trust in Noctis to know what to do. After all, Prompto says aloud, Noctis is a kind person. If anyone knows what to do to make up for it, Noctis would.

He's embarrassed by Prompto's faith in him but decides to try and do something. Noctis starts on the reports when he gets back to his apartment. The next day, when Ignis doesn't show, Noctis walks to school on his own. When he comes home from school, Ignis still shows no sign of showing up. Noctis takes the rest of the day's work into his own hands, trying to cook food for dinner.

Rest in peace, pots and pans.

Noctis gives up and goes for left overs eventually, going back to work on the reports he'd started on the day before. At some point, Gladio appears raising an eyebrow at Noctis and practically kidnaps him for training. Gladio beats him to the ground and Noctis can't help but glare at him from the ground.

He asks why Gladio had showed up. Gladio tells him that he heard about the fight with Ignis--apparently from Ignis himself. According to Gladio, both Noctis and Ignis were being stupid and should just apologize to each other. But, hey, what does he know? It's not like he's the one who grew up with a younger sibling.

Sighing, Noctis says that he would apologize but Ignis wasn't answering his phone and Noctis had no idea where he was anyway. Gladio rolled his eyes and tells Noctis that he'll get Ignis to come over to the apartment and they'll talk it out like the adults they're all going to be soon enough.

When Ignis did show up the next day, Noctis had fallen asleep on his reports. Ignis almost hesitantly wakes up the sleepy Prince, who looks up at Ignis with tired confusion. Eventually, when he wakes up, Noctis blurts out an apology and Ignis sighs and apologizes too. They sit down and talk properly and finally Noctis tells someone else what Lunafreya had told him years ago.

He tells Ignis that he's going to die when he's crowned king.

The routine returns to normal, but Ignis is quiet more often than not. Noctis understands: He's trying to work through what Noctis had told him. It's not like Noctis hadn't needed time to come to terms with it himself--but he has had years now. Ignis has had only days.

Noctis hopes that his chamberlain eventually does come to terms with it. If only because Ignis' quiet is starting to weird Noctis out. It probably had directly due to not caring about his whole dying thing--except for those that are left behind after he dies. That, he supposes, is the only thing he cares about really.

Ignis doesn't say anything about it again before Noctis and Prompto graduate. Said graduation is done with more fanfare than usual and Noctis is pretty sure it's only because he's there. It's like bragging about how, hey look, we have the Prince coming to our school how do you feel about that huh?

When Ignis does finally bring it up, Noctis is 19 and working a part time job as a cook. It happens with little warning, just Ignis touching Noctis' shoulder and telling Noctis that he wants to know why Noctis has to die.

His answer is a shrug and a statement that he just has to.

Ignis isn't satisfied and decides to investigate. Noctis lets him: He might not remember why he has to die but he knows it's something only he can do. Well, him and Lunafreya but Noctis doesn't tell Ignis that.

On the eve of Noctis' twentieth birthday, an old nightmare surfaces. It's the one where Lunafreya dies in his arm but everything is oh so much different from what he remembers. There is no fog of confusion and he cans see Lunafreya's killer clearly.

But not at first.

Instead, Noctis dream of waking up as _Izunia takes Marie's hands in his, shaking and telling her that that he's still not sure that Ardyn and Stella had really turned on them. It could've been anyone and wouldn’t it make Solheim happy, if they made Lucis and Tenebrae collapse in on themselves?_

_Marie just clutches his hands back and says that they need to find them anyway and they can confirm it then, can't they? Izunia takes a deep breath and says that she's right. Besides, if Ardyn and Stella really were in Lucis then Izunia could check up on his ill father._

_When they arrive in Lucis, it is to see that some of the guards at the castle are slumped to the side, dead and dead. Izunia feels himself start moving, his hands shaking as he races up the stairs to the throne room. Marie follows on his heels and he swears he can hear her trident flashing into her hands. Izunia ignores that, trying to avoid confronting the truth that's screaming at the edge of his mind._

_He hears his father's voice. He's talking, to Ardyn. Who doesn't respond to their father's voice slowly becoming more and more frantic and confused. Izunia slams through the doors just as Ardyn stabs his blade right through their father's chest, his blood spurting through the air like a morbid fountain._

_A scream echoes through the throne room and Izunia realizes it's his scream. Ardyn spins around and Stella is there, her rapier raised to fight. An angry snarl bubbles up from the back of Izunia's throat as he demands to know what the hell Ardyn things he's doing. His brother just tilts his head, as if amused to see Izunia--and Marie--there._

_Marie is talking to Stella. Izunia can't hear it as a roaring rage in his ears, staring at Ardyn. His brother says nothing, his hands clenched on the bloodied blade. Izunia is...angry, angrier than he's ever been. He and Ardyn had mourned their mother in this room, when she had died so long ago. Now Izunia is here alone, mourning the sick father his brother had just murdered._

_Finally, he asks again why Ardyn killed their father, his voice flat and emotionless. Ardyn tilts his head and says one thing._

_"Because he just wouldn't die and let me take the throne."_

_Izunia snarls and takes several steps forward, his own blade raised to clash with Ardyn's when Marie's scream of look out echoed in his ears. Izunia twists and sees Marie standing behind him, a sword sticking out of her gut and blood already pooling around her feet. Stella stares at them both, as if unbothered by the fact that she had just stabbed her sister._

_He's shaking. This went from a simple trying to confirm where their twins were to watching almost everyone he loves die before his eyes. Izunia breaks potions and elixirs to help Marie heal, to let her live, all while pleading with Stella to know why. Stella raises her blade, as does Ardyn, as he heals Marie. Shiva's voice breaths into his ear, liek a frosty whisper, telling him to move and fight._

_Ardyn staggers, backs up, and watches as Izunia tries to kill Stella by beheading her. Her body falls to the ground and he hears Ardyn accusing him of betraying him. Izunia spins on his heel, dropping the sword to take the trident Marie had loved so. Ardyn had always beaten him in sparring fights, but the man had never fought him with a trident._

_Because, after all, Marie had taught him how to use the trident after Ardyn and Stella had left them. Ardyn had never had the chance to fight him with it._

_Izunia drags himself from Marie's side and stabs the brother through the chest. Ardyn splutters and snarls, his own blade jerked forward to slash Izunia's cheek. For once, Izunia won and all he could say to his brother is that he is banished for all time._

Noctis wakes up with tears in his eye. Ardyn, Stella, Marie. His father. He knows that his father now is alive and maybe not well. Ardyn and Stella should be dead: It's been years and years. And Marie? It's Lunafreya. He knows this down to his bones and he is sad that they will both die again so young.

At least his birthday is happy enough for Noctis to forget the suffering of his dreams.

It isn't to last, as a month later, the Niflheim Empire offers peace is a treaty that requires Noctis to marry Lunafreya. That's fine, Noctis thinks, he's pretty sure they were practically married once anyway. At least, he's pretty sure Izunia and Marie were married. He decides to check the archives after the wedding, just to make sure.

Lunafreya, at least, seems happy with this choice. She points out that it could've been worse and at least now she'd finally be able to fulfill her Oracle duties in Lucis as well. What she doesn't say is that they can finally fulfill that destiny of theirs.

Regis tells Noctis that the wedding is going to be in Altissia. It makes sense, Accordo is supposed to be as close to a neutral zone as one could get. But Noctis smells something up with Regis' explanation. What exactly is up with his father's almost worried behavior? Noctis doesn’t know.

But something he does know is that Ignis seems upset. Noctis is almost sure it's because the chamberlain couldn't find an alternative to Noctis' fate. He's not surprised by either result: Noctis knew Ignis would find nothing and he knew that Ignis would be upset he couldn't find anything.

So he tells Ignis he wants him to come with him to his wedding. Ignis gives Noctis a tired smile and tells him that he wouldn't miss it for the world.

Gladio tells Noctis that he's coming with, no argument. Noctis just raises an eyebrow and says that he didn't expect anything different from such a loyal Shield.

Noctis waits a day for Prompto to say something but all he does is congratulate Noctis, sounding almost sad as he does so. Huffing Noctis tracks down his best friend and tells him that Prompto should start getting packed if he's going to come with them. Prompto just stares and, confused, asks Noctis what he means.

He raises his eyebrows and tells Prompto he wants him at his wedding. Who else will be his best man, after all? Prompto seems to suck up, his eyes tearing up. He smiles and tells Noctis that he will get packed and be ready to go when the time comes.

When the day comes, Noctis can't shake the strange pit of dread that had settled in his stomach. He keeps up a calm charade, as if he is unaffected by it all. They leave, the group of four, to head to Galdin Quay to make their way to Altissia. Along the way, the Regalia, his father's car originally, breaks down and they have to push it to Hammerhead.

Gladio jokes about it being an omen of the future. Noctis just huffs and says nothing because he has a feeling the worst is going to happen by the end of this.

In Hammerhead, they have to do a couple jobs for Cindy Aurum, to make up for the repair job on the Regalia. It doesn't take too long--but after a couple days pass Noctis is eager to get to Altissia. Or at least Galdin Quay, if they couldn't make it to a ferry.

When they arrive at Galdin Quay's decks, Noctis had to stop himself from ripping out a sword and beheading the woman that smile coldly at them. After all, Stella Nox Fleuret should be dead. He beheaded her as Izunia, after all.

All Stella does, though, is smile at them and tell them the ferries aren't running, casually flicking a coin at them. Noctis catches it and watches her go until he can't see her anymore. Prompto touches his elbow and whisper asks if he's okay. Noctis shakes his head and says that he isn't but he'll feel better once they get to Altissia.

But the ferry isn't running, just like she said. They do a little chore for Dino, who offers to get them on a ferry as soon as he can.

And then Insomnia falls.

Noctis doesn't know about that until they wake up in the morning. It's thanks to Ignis that Noctis finds out so quickly. Of course, his initial reaction is denial because if Insomnia has fallen than Regis is dead. If Regis is dead, it means Noctis has lost yet another father.

He wants to scream and rage, suddenly feeling like a child in a way he never has. It isn't fair, he thinks, that his father has to die. He is fine with himself dying, because it would mean his father and friends would be safe, from whatever it is that Ardyn and Stella did. But one of those people are dead now.

So he tells Ignis that it's not fair, quietly. Ignis' hand touches his shoulder and he whispers to Noctis that he understands.

Prompto says they should go back, and make sure Insomnia really has fallen. Besides, they aren't safe there anyway, so they need to start moving. Noctis agrees with him and the quartet drags themselves to the Regalia and head to Insomnia. Ignis says he'll drive so they let him.

Gladio suddenly decides, as they arrive at the check point, to pull Noctis away from his destination to remind him that he needs to keep his head. Yes, if Regis is dead, then this is bad. Because there is no way Clarus, Gladio's father, would've allowed Regis to die while he still lived.

After they tear through the MTs like they were nothing but butter, they stop at the over view of Insomnia. Smoke and fire burned from the city and Noctis felt himself shake as he stared at the destruction of his home city. His crown city.

Stella knew, he thinks, as he numbly answers his phone. Cor tells him to meet him at Hammerhead. Noctis wonders if he needs to tell the others about Stella. In the end, as he numbly sits down in the Regalia to hear the news report declaring him, Lunafreya, and his father dead, he decides not to.

Ignis drives them again, back to Hammerhead. Cindy tells them that Cor had left to the Praire Outpost. Noctis puffs out and pinches the bridge of his nose, exasperated that Cor had left them like that.

When they finally met up with them, he found out they were picking up the royal arms. The fact that they were already pushing him to pick these weapons up makes him want to scream. How quick they were to replace his father the moment he died.

Just like when Ardyn _killed their father_ \--

Noctis breathes out. He's not Izunia. Or more to the point, Izunia may be him now, but Noctis doesn't remember him all that well. All he remembers are those last hours before his father's death and the moments after his father's death.

Ha, hilarious, that his only memories he remembers of that life is during the time his father dies.

...Lunafreya better be alright, he thinks.

They split from Cor and make their way through the trench he points them to. Along the way are daemon after daemon, and they have to fight every single one of them. It's not as hard as Noctis thought it would be. When they arrive at the royal tomb, Noctis muses that it's strange to see the weapons as if they were normal, so used to seeing the crystalline forms of them.

Prompto freaks out a lot in the trench. It's all the darkness, Noctis thinks. Which isn't wrong, because it is pretty unnerving on its own and the daemons just make it worse. Ignis and Gladio were probably only slightly better than Noctis was, whom in turn was better than Prompto.

Noctis still really wants to get this royal arm and leave this trench, regardless that he’s handling the trench better than Prompto is.

When they get the royal arm, it seems to stab itself into his body and Noctis tries not to wretch at the feeling of something tearing its way into his body. The magic of the axe made him want to scream with pain but he shoves it away. He can't worry them over something so small.

They return to the Praire Outpost and learn that Cor is getting ready to storm a blockade. Noctis says that he wants to help, because daemons and MTs were free frustration fodder. Cor agrees and the group splits to take the blockade down, eventually fighting a MT mech as they take the blockade.

That's when they learn from Monica that Iris is in Lestallum.

Noctis decides to go to Lestallum, making only a couple of (chocobo) stops along the way. And, at first, everything seems fine. Iris and the Hester family are alive and that means they can rebuild. But when Noctis leaves with the quartet to a waterfall cave dungeon, with another royal arm waiting for them, things start going wrong.

First, it's a headache, with Titan's voice hissing in his ears. They don't realize what it means until they meet Ardyn and Noctis wants to scream the minute he sees him. He'd thought, as Izunia, that he had killed both Stella and Ardyn. Obviously, he had failed and he wonders if that's why he has to die: To stop them.

They head to the Disc, following Ardyn. Noctis is high strung, waiting for his former brother to turn around and backstab them. Gladio frowns at him, wondering if he needs to be any more paranoid than he already is. He even asks Noctis this, in hushed tones, and Noctis just whispers back that he's paranoid enough for the both of them, thanks Gladio.

The Regalia makes it through the blockade gate and Ardyn smiles at them as they drove through. Noctis stares at him as the doors close behind them. What the hell is Ardyn planning, he wonders. Ignis, on the other hand, makes note that Ardyn seems familiar somehow.

He should, Noctis thinks, because he's technically a member of the Lucis Caelum family. It would make sense if Ignis thought he looked familiar.

But at the disc, they meet Titan. Titan tests Noctis, to prove he's worthy of his mark as Lunafreya had told Titan Noctis is. How strange, Noctis thinks, that Lunafreya was here and Noctis never knew that. He hopes that she's safe, wherever she is now. Noctis wants to see her one more time before he dies.

They lose the Regalia because of Ardyn. This is also when Ignis finally recognizes Ardyn, telling them that he's Ardyn Izunia and Noctis suddenly has the urge to stab Ardyn. Use his name, huh? Or, not really, but damn it all how dare Ardyn do tht, after what he'd done?

Riding the chocobos they had helped out back to Lestallum, Ignis tells them about Ardyn Izunia, the chancellor of Niflheim Empire, and his right hand, a woman named Stella Marie. Noctis' hands are clenched on his chocobo's reins, with every word that left Ignis' mouth. Why had their wayward siblings decided to use their names as their surnames? It was almost surreal.

They go and gain Ramuh's mark by chasing the lightning across Duscae. And then, for all that Noctis had gotten the marks of two of the Six, they couldn't save Jared. He dies, when they aren't there to help and yet another Lucian family is torn apart. It leaves Noctis seething, his hands clenched every second as they retrieve the Regalia.

Iris and Talcott join them on a trip to Cape Caem, where they'll be safe from the Empire for now. There, Cindy gives them a missions to get mythril to repair the ship and Gladio disappears on them. Noctis lets him go because with every person that dies Noctis wonders if Gladio would be safer away from him. He thinks the same of Ignis and Prompto but he never says it, for all that he thinks they know he's thinking that.

Aranea Highwind is a crazy Imperial but Noctis trusts her more than he does Ardyn. Plus, without Gladio there to watch their backs, it was nice to have another fighter with them. As long as it wasn't Ardyn or Stella.

Along the way to the mythril, Noctis hears that maybe, Aranea should start thinking about skipping town with the Empire. He looks her in the eye and says don't let Ardyn or Stella find out you want to do that. She just stares at him as if she doesn't really register his warning, like she thinks he’s joking. He’s not, but well.

Her problem, he muses.

Once they get the mythril they call Cindy up and she tells them to meet up at Lestallum. There, Gladio returns and they all begin to make their way to Altissia. Noctis feels full of dread with every inch they make to the city on the water. He can't really explain it, it's just that he can feel destiny creeping up on him and Lunafreya with every passing second.

He wants to see her one last time, damn it.

Prompto is concerned for him. Understandable: Noctis has been more highstrung since Titan than he's ever been in his life. Even learning from Lunafreya that he was going to die was less stressful than this. But he doesn't confide this in Prompto. He doesn’t confide this in anyone. Ignis is still the only one who knows that Noctis will die the day he becomes king.

A day that rapidly approaches with every beat of a butterfly's wings.

Gladio seems overly eager to prove to them he's strong. Noctis wonders what happened while he was gone to make him so eager but he never asks. Years later, Noctis will wish he had asked. He'll wish he'd asked so many things, just to feel normal for a little bit. Yet he's never been normal, has he?

Noctis speaks with the first secretary. It feels like pulling teeth but she agrees to let him and Lunafreya form the covenant with Levithan. She doesn't let him see Lunafreya. He has time, though, after this. Both of them had a little more time, to see each other again and to remember.

(But they don't and Noctis weeps bitterly for this.)

Leviathan's storm destroys Altissia. Most people survive, because of the evacuation. Lunafreya does not, yet Noctis doesn't know this. He doesn't know that Lunafreya dies again, trying to protect him. It is how she always dies, curled against him as she tries to shield him from those that want to harm him.

Lunafreya and Marie had always been stronger like that, than Noctis and Izunia.

Ignis' sight is stolen from him, in service to Noctis, and Gladio seems to want to scream at something at the injustice of it all. He lashes out as Noctis, who seems an easy target in his distant shock. It shakes Noctis from his shock, long enough to look Gladio in the eye and tell him that if Noctis is such a pain than he releases Gladio from the awful duty of being his Shield.

And then he walks away, to another train car to breathe. He misses Ignis' sharp intake of breath, because Ignis knows why, more so than Prompto and Gladio. Gladio is just angry at it all, still.

When they get to the train station, Noctis makes to go the royal tomb alone. Gladio stops him, with Prompt helping Ignis behind him. His (former?) Shield demands to know what Noctis is thinking, going off of his own. Noctis unthinkingly replies that they're better off away from him, so maybe they should head back to Lucis.

Gladio slaps him.

Had Noctis even an ounce of energy left, he would've glared at Gladio and demanded to know why he slapped him. Now? He just looks up at his maybe former friend and waits for him to scream at him. But Ignis intervenes, as he always does and they move on.

In the swampy marsh land, Prompto pulls Noctis away, once he's sure Ignis is safely seated. He carefully sits own and asks Noctis if he's going to die. Noctis stares at Prompto, startled by the question. His best friend's expressionis pained as he says _Well? Are you?_

Noctis closes his eyes and tells him that yes, he's going to die. Dear, dear Prompto asks why and Noctis shrugs. He's still not sure why, but it feels....necessary, down to his bones.

His friend grabs his hand and asks: Does Iggy know? Noctis nods.

Prompto sighs, leans on his free hand, and tells Noctis that there's more, he knows it. But he won't ask if Noctis doesn't want to share. And for a moment, a split second in the universe, Noctis considers telling Prompto everything he remembers. About him and Lunafreya, Ardyn and Stella, Solheim and Niflheim.

Yet he does not because it would mean telling him about the truth of the MTs. Prompto had always been so happy not be killing something alive when fighting those. Noctis can't bear to see the expression on Prompto's face if Noctis told him the truth.

(Noctis had only remembered the truth of the MTs after Leviathan. After holding Marie's hands in his as he sobs to her that he's sick of her dying for him. She only smiles and tells him that she would gladly die a thousand deaths if only it meant that Noctis would be happy.)

(He can't be happy without her.)

Next morning, they leave the campsite to track down the last paths down to the royal tomb. A marlboro greets them and Ignis saves their collective butts with fire magic he only has thanks to Noctis.

The royal arms seem to screech against each other beneath his skin as he takes in another. The last, besides his father's sword, Noctis thinks. It is as they turn to leave the swampy quarry that Ignis stops them, to chew them all out for their childish behavior. He is kinder to Noctis, here, because he knows better what is going on in Noctis' head.

Yet he doesn't know everything.

No one truly alive does.

They chug along to Gralea. They have to stop because the Emprie attacks and Astrals above, they lose Prompto. They lose him and Noctis wants to tear out his hair from his worry. He can't lose someone else, he's too tired of losing people to handle it. But they can't stop to help him until the make it to Tenebrae, where all Noctis sees is more fire and smoke.

Just like Insomnia. Just like that time, all those years ago, when the Empire had attacked and killed Sylva. Why does the Empire continue to do this, he wonders.

Or maybe, the Empire is in its death throes.

Noctis doesn't know for sure, until they arrive in Gralea with their new drivers, Biggs and Wedge. The city is nothing but a daemon's nest now, for all that he is sure not a single truly human soul still rests within the city. Not without being bait.

He's separated from Gladio and Ignis and the Regalia is gone. Noctis searches for Prompto, trying to ignore the jeers he hears over the intercoms. Ardyn and Stella alike, mocking him.

They never breathe a word of Izunia or Marie, so he wonders if they even know. All he can tell for sure from those jeers, is that Ardyn and Stella hate wach other more than anything. Once they'd been best friends, trying to wingman the other with someone at every tavern or bar they went to. Now it seemed they were bloodied enemies, who just happened to hate the world more than they hated each other.

Noctis almost dies before he is made a king, saved only by his loyalist of retainers. He almost hugs them both, but he's too tired and everything is too raw for them right now for hugs. They search more for Prompto.

It doesn't take long, to find him. He's chained to a cross like structure and Noctis wastes no time in getting him down. He clutches Prompto and whispers apologies--apologies Prompto tries to wave off but Noctis will have none of it. He will take his apologizes dammit.

Especially because Noctis doesn't know how much time left he has with them. Once they get the crystal back, then they'll have to crown him. Noctis has said it before, but he will die the moment he is made king. He does not know how or why, just that he will.

(He has to, because for all that Izunia and Marie had tried to stop their twin siblings all those years ago, the curse of the daemons had already curled into their bones, leaving Stella and Ardyn alive, even when Izunia tears them both apart. They curse him more than they will ever curse Marie.)

(Besides, they chose to come back. Better them, the ones who failed to begin with, than an innocent soul.)

Noctis makes it to the crystal, after they fight daemons and Prompto tells them the truth of his past. Noctis only snorts at Prompto's worry, and tells him that Prompto had no reason to worry about rejection from them. They'd never reject him over something that, as far as Noctis is concerned, is so minor.

He wonders if he should've said something different, as he races to the crystal. If he can use the power, for even a second, he can save them.

And then Ardyn is there, and so is Stella, both of them wielding their sword and rapier. Noctis barely goes free and past them, his back hitting the crystal. He feels it suck at him and his shield that he summon to defend himself shatters into glass. Ardyn smiles mockingly, greeting him as a king and telling him that his name is really Ardyn Lucis Caelum.

Noctis looks him in the eye and says, "I know."

He doesn't see anything else for years, years, and years.

When he does wake, he feels older than he should be. The world is dark and he wants to weep--Noctis had come to terms with dying decades ago, Astrals, why would you tear him from the world for so long? but he struggles from Angelgard with Umbra.

Noctis is so happy to see Umbra. He'd been so worried that the dog had died with Pryna and Lunafreya. But he makes it to Galdin Quay with Umbra and dodges the daemons in the way.

He keeps moving, stopping only when Umbra barks to gain his attention because of a truck.

A truck belonging to Talcott Hester. Noctis laughs and hugs the boy turned man and he hugs Noctis back, desperately. He'd just been a kid when Noctis saw him last...Ten years, lost, because Bahamut wanted to be sure Noctis was ready.

Noctis wants to yell to the sky that he'd been ready for years, just as he had when he first met Bahamut back then.

When he arrives in Hammerhead, it's to no fanfare. He's quietly glad for that: He plans to head to Insomnia as soon as possible, to the crystal with the ring to end it all. To bring back the dawn and take the scourge away.

Part of him didn't expect to run into his friends, for all that they left a note with Umbra for him. He tears up when he sees them but blinks it away. Noctis knows he has so little time with them now. So very little.

All three of them tell him that they're coming, no arguments. Noctis still tries, because for all that he'd like them to be with him, he's scared they'll die. They have to brow beat him into submission, pointing out that they would be oh so much safer with him than not, right?

Noctis cannot argue against the logic of that, so the reformed quartet begin to make their way back to Insomnia, where everything for them began. Every steps is painful, not just because his mind is a churning sea of reminders of death.

It is also because he can feel the swords and blades of his ancestors itching beneath his skin. Noctis has to cling to the trident, the calm center of the storm, to move passed the pain. Lunafreya had known exactly what he would need.

He wonders if she remembered everything, long before he had. It had taken him years in that crystal to remember it all, life as Izunia.

For all that he hates Ardyn, still, he now pities him too. Because Izunia hasn't loved his twin in the decades--millennia. But he will end him, like he had tried to do two thousand years ago.

The fight to the Citadel is easier than Noctis thought it would be. Just like that first time they fought their way down to a royal tomb. Noctis keeps waiting for the other shoe to drop, for it to become ridiculously hard.

It does, when Ifrit appears to fight them. When they beat him with Shiva at their backs, her cold wind their protection from the fierce fires, Stella appears. There is no godly protection for this fight, just their weapons and shields of magic against her fury.

And then, as she prepares a spell of darkness that was once a spell of light, Noctis spear her on the end of Marie's trident. He looks her in the eye and whispers to her to let her sleep, to rest with Marie. She stares back and whispers his old name, whispers Izunia, and dies.

The fight with Ardyn will not be as easy, Noctis knows. But he watches as Stella seems to be swallowed by the light of the Oracle, the light she once bared herself. Perhaps Luanfreya has some mercy and compassion left for her once twin.

Noctis walks to the throne room.

Prompto, Gladio, and Ignis follow him with no questions asked. They have full faith in him and once that had felt a heavy burden to bear. Yet now it feels like the sun coming over the horizon, a dawn he longs for. Noctis just needs to bring that forth for everyone else, now.

Ardyn speaks of a jealous king and Noctis asks Ardyn if he wasn't the jealous one. Ardyn snarls and Noctis' friends fall to a spell of sleep. They will be fine--And they'll be even better once Ardyn and Stella are both for sure gone.

Noctis fights Ardyn. It feels like he's Izunia again, at first, like they're just sparring, training to fight Solheim. But Ardyn attacks him with the royal arms and Noctis remembers he is not Izunia anymore. This is not a sparring match.

They clash thrice, until Noctis summons Regis' blade and rams it between Ardyn's ribs. Ardyn can only whisper that he sees how it is. Noctis tells him that he doesn't, not really. If he did, maybe he'd know how Noctis is. Ardyn just stares at him, confused, as his body dissolves.

His friends wake up during the clashes. They arrive once Ardyn's body is gone. Noctis stands above them, on the stairs of the Citadel, and tells them to walk tall. They nod to him, ready to fight to the death.

Noctis won't let that happen, he pleads with Shiva. She agrees, just this once, and Noctis is assured as he heads to his death.

The royal arms tear him apart from the inside out as he sits at the throne. The ring burns against his fingers and he feels each king slowly stab him through. Noctis reminds himself that he offered himself to this--he chose this.

And the Noctis stares up at his father's face and asks him to trust him.

Regis does.

Prompto, Ignis, and Gladio find Regis' sword in Noctis' chest, after the dawn comes.

* * *

It is Beyond where Noctis finds himself. Themselves. Right now he bears the souls of 12 others and the memories of himself once before. He feels full to the bursting and falls through the storm of the Beyond to the center.

There he finds Ardyn and Stella. Stella is quiet, ready to accept her death. She seems happier than Noctis has ever seen her. Happier than Izunia has seen her in years.

Ardyn still fights back. Noctis, Izunia, tells him off and Lunafreya raises her hands and burns some of his twin's darkness.

NoctisIzunia feels himself pulling apart at the seams now, 12 others ripping from him. They raise their blades to Ardyn, who is staggering from LunafreyaMarie's ten year attempt at healing.

It's a rush of feeling as the kings and queens of Lucis cut both Ardyn and Stella down. Only Stella seems to accept it. Funny, because NoctisIzunia always thought that maybe Ardyn had done it all because he wanted to make NoctisIzunia hate him enough to kill him.

Well, he has an eternity to find out, he supposes.

He falls.

And shatters.

It's cold, when he wakes. Water soaked into his clothes, and he realizes he's lying in a pond. NoctisIzunia tilts his head and there is LunafreyaMarie, kneeling down next to him with a teasing smile and Pryna at her side.

She holds out a hand.

"Welcome home."

**Author's Note:**

> basic premise is: noct and luna r reborn to take care of their former siblings because they're not letting innocent souls clean up their mess. noct and luna r, bovsly, izunia and marie respectively. Ardyn dies not really knowing Noctis i Izunia, tho he has suspicions. Stella dies knowing and accepting of her death because that's what she's wanted for so long?? why would she fight it
> 
> also idk if it was obvs but noct does love both luna and prom, he's just kinda. blind to it with the latter and not really understanding his feelings with the former.
> 
> i'm rpolly gonna write 2 maybe 3 more things in this universe?? one from luna's pov, one of the past w/ izunia and marie, and maybe a post death thing


End file.
